Big Green Unable to Fend Off Bulldogs

Saturday, October 8

Hanover, N.H.

5:00 PM

Dartmouth College

10-5,2-3Ivy League

Yale

13-1,5-0Ivy League

Yale

Dartmouth

Karen Murphy ’24

Photo by: Doug Austin

10/8/2022 8:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

Dartmouth won the first set, but faltered in the final three at Leede Arena

By: Kyle Relf

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth volleyball team appeared positioned to hand Yale its first Ivy League loss after an opening set win, but was unable to hold off late Bulldog runs over the ensuing three games as the Big Green fell in four sets Saturday evening at Leede Arena.

Dartmouth (10-5, 2-3) racked up a season-high 12 blocks, while Bomi Ogunlari led that category with a career-high nine rejections. Grace Wiczek also earned career blocking numbers; the senior tallied six, along with a team-best 12 kills. Karen Murphy earned her second double-double of the season with 19 assists and 11 digs. Carly Diehl posted 57 assists for the Bulldogs (13-1, 5-0) and Mila Yarich, serving as Diehl's top target, finished with 18 kills as Yale registered a .240 hitting percentage to Dartmouth's .172.

"Overall, we got better this weekend compared to last weekend and we had several players stepping up at different times," head coach Gilad Doron said. "We will need to play better now going on the road next weekend and figure out how to sustain our level of play throughout an entire match."

Dartmouth refused to go away against a tough Bulldogs squad throughout the opening set and was able to pick up key points late in the game, enough to claim a closely contested 25-23 decision. Yale looked poised to take the early advantage, holding a 23-20 lead, but crucial service and attack errors allowed Dartmouth to climb within one. The set was tied at 23-all following Ava Roberts' clutch kill. The Bulldogs committed another costly attack error before Emma Engstrom's ace capped the first set.

In the second set, the Big Green once again battled to the final points, but it this time it was Yale who was able to emerge victorious in key late-game rallies. Dartmouth trailed 17-16, but fell victim to the visitors' four-point run and didn't regain momentum, despite kills by Roberts and Gibbs.

Yale again pulled away late and as a result, claimed the third set by a score of 25-20. Locked in a 15-15 tie, the Bulldogs flipped a switch and took control with two straight kills and an ace. Dartmouth fought back with Wiczek's kill, but powerful Bulldog attacks were the Big Green's demise down the stretch.

Dartmouth's strong start in the fourth set was erased by an early Yale run, which propelled the visitors to a 13-8 lead. The Big Green hung around and trailed 19-16 after Gibbs' kill, but were only able to muster another point on Piper Stevens' kill as the Bulldogs ran away with the game, 25-17, and sealed the match.

Dartmouth is on the road following two straight weekends at home as the Big Green travel to Columbia for a Friday evening tilt in New York.